310 



ERICACEAE (HEATH FAMILY) 



STAGGER-BUSH 



Lydnia mariana, D. Don. 

 (Pleris mariana, B. and H.) 



Other English names: Maryland Andromeda, Calfkill, Sheepkill. 



Native. Perennial. Propagated by seeds. 



Time of bloom: May to June. 



Seed-time: August to September. 



Range: Rhode Island to. Florida on the Atlantic slope; also in 



Tennessee and Arkansas. 

 Habitat : Low, moist soil ; wet meadows and pastures. 



Like the Sheep Laurel, this poisonous plant does most harm 

 while very small ; for, though cattle and sheep sometimes browse, 

 they prefer to graze, and it is 

 usually the young, green shoots 

 which spring up in damp, sandy 

 pastures that are eaten by sheep 

 and calves and cause them to 

 stagger dizzily about, with slaver- 

 ing mouths and labored breathing, 

 until they fall and die. (Fig. 216.) 

 Stems one to four feet tall, with 

 slender branches held nearly up- 

 right ; the bark of old wood is 

 specked with black dots. Leaves 

 alternate, oblong, smooth and 

 glossy above but sparingly hairy 

 on the heavy veins and the mid- 

 rib below, the under surface black- 

 dotted, two or three inches in 

 length, pointed at both ends, with 

 short petioles and entire edges, the 

 margins slightly revolute; they 

 cling to the twigs until very late in the season, but are not ever- 

 green. The flowers grow on the leafless wood of the preceding 

 year's growth and are clustered just above the scars of last year's 

 leaves ; they are white or faintly rosy nodding bells, with bulging 

 bases and slightly constricted throats, a little larger than lilies of 

 the valley, which they somewhat resemble in form. The calyx is 



FIG. 216. Stagger-bush (Lyonia 

 mariana). X J. 



